End Or Beginning?
by Minn-Maigi
Summary: None of us were satisfied with the last time we saw the Dark Ace, but what if there was more? Just a oneshot putting DA's last moment into a new light.


**WARNING: Episode 52 spoilers ahead.**** This might become something, it might not. For now it's just a oneshot. Either way review!**

End… Or Beginning?

I lashed out, charging towards the pathetic youth I so longed to kill. The Titan's Might coursed through my veins, yet as I threw my punch it was immediately deflected away. I grunted in frustration and anger, deciding it would be better to take a head-on approach. With speed and agility I threw myself towards him, laying my body horizontal to get maximum impact, yet before I even knew what happened, I could feel his wretched hands grip my torso, and flinging me hand over hand like some lifeless rag doll, he sent me spiraling towards the tower.

The impact, thankfully, did not do any real damage, yet as I crawled out of the wreckage I knew that the Titan's Might had been spent. I was once again weak, and still unable to defeat my reckless opponent.

I heard him before I saw him. He floated down behind me, and as I turned my head, his voice called out with insolent mockery.

"Had enough?"

I ground my teeth as I watched him, flying there, with that stupid conceited smile disfiguring his mouth. I loathed him, and my resolve to destroy him was instantly doubled.

I turned my head towards Cyclonis, no longer deserving my respect for the name 'Master'. This had been drawn out too far, and my anger was now being released in all directions.

"Do something, you arrogant witch!"

I turned back to the precipice from which I was hanging. I tried crawling back onto the ledge so that I could resume fighting. I would _not_ stay vulnerable. I would _never_ be weak. As I struggled, I heard Cyclonis's voice yell out from behind me.

"There is nothing I can't Bind to my WILL!"

Curious to see what she was doing, I turned my head. As I did, my gaze was met with a flash of bright, red light.

Suddenly, a power sinister and strong began to grow within me. I yelled out, for it was painful and hot. This magic was unlike any power I had ever felt. It was using me, I could feel its desire to take over. As the intensity of the raw strength pounded within, I closed my eyes, trying to keep it back.

It would not be held. I opened my eyes, and all I could see was the red light.

Without even being fully aware of what I was doing, I soared up from the cliff as effortlessly as if I had never been hanging from it, and then lunged myself again at the pathetic youth. As I entered the fight, I felt more like myself again. This strange power was good after all, very good; for it wanted the same thing I did: to defeat Aerrow.

Yet it still was not sufficient! Aerrow kicked me away as easily as he did before. The magic within me flared as did my vexation and wrath.

"More!" I demanded of the witch. For more was the answer. I welcomed this power and I could feel it dragging me in the right direction. "More!"

Cyclonis thrust her hand towards the master crystal, absorbing the energy. She then pointed her staff at me, and I could feel anther hit of the magic spread within. It burned and seared my mind. Some last remnant within me cried out in agony as the fire spread, but then it was consumed and the full might of the power quickly grew. It whispered the word to me: 'more'.

"More! More!" I demanded, not sure if they were words of my own, but by then I didn't care. The power was all that mattered. I no longer knew why. "MORE!"

The putrid girl smiled as she delivered the magic full force. I was no longer demanding more; the pain grew so intense I could no longer control anything. All I could do was scream. The inferno which was the power continued to expand, but it had devoured all it could. There was nothing more to consume, so it chose to consume me.

It erupted into an orb of purple and red energy, and I was lost inside. I thought I heard a voice, but it was indistinguishable though the agony and my shouts.

Suddenly, there was the largest of blasts, and the power found its way out. It had torn away my insides, and now was devouring the rest. A sheet of red crystal encased me. It was both inside and out, and I could not tell if I still existed, or if there was merely nothing left but crystal.

The pain rose to its height, and the light was back, flooding me eyes, so I could not see. But then it flooded more than my eyes. The light was everywhere. It glowed through me and it glowed through the crystal. I yelled louder, realizing what this accursed power was doing to me, realizing it was the end. There was a large explosion as the light consumed everything, and then as completely as turning off a switch, all was black.

It took a very long time to awake, and when I did awake it was still black. I kept my eyes closed, fearing what I might find when I opened them. I could feel pain pounding through my body, so I knew I wasn't dead. It was a lesser pain than I just felt; significantly so. It was the aftermath, the soreness you feel after a long battle. I opened my eyes and found I was lying face-down on solid, rocky earth. I examined my hand before me, and was relieved to see that it was no longer encapsulated in that accursed crystal.

I rose to my feet and brushed myself off. When I looked up, a misty, dull green light flooded my eyes, and the landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen before. As I examined my surrounding I only had one thought.

"Where… am I?"


End file.
